THE SHARK THAT LIVES TO 400

LURKING deep in the cold waters of the Arctic is a species of shark which scientists yesterday claimed can live up to 400 years old.

The astonishing revelation came after scientists examined the bodies of 28 Greenland sharks accidentally caught by fishermen seeking other species.

Using a novel dating technique, an international team of biologists and physicists estimated the age of the sharks based on tissue in their eyes.

The oldest of the sharks examined was nearly five metres long and estimated to be 392 years old when it was caught around four years ago.

Of the rest, eight of the sharks were probably 200 years or older and at least one other was likely to date back more than three centuries, according to a study published in the journal Science.

But the calculations come with a huge margin of error – plus or minus 120 years – due to the newness of the dating technique, said the study’s lead author Julius Nielsen, a marine biologist at the University of Copenhagen.

“It’s an estimate. It’s not a determination,” Mr Nielsen said. “It is the best we can do.”

Even at the lowest end of the margin error, the oldest of the 28 sharks would have been 272 years of age when it died, and still would be the longest-living animal with a backbone, Nielsen said. Other experts agreed.

Joao Pedro Magalhaes, a University of Liverpool aging researcher, said because the study is based on an indirect measurement he wouldn’t necessarily concentrate on exact numbers, especially when they exceed 400 years.

“But the study is convincing enough for us to say that these animals live way longer than human beings and possibly longer than any other vertebrate,” Dr Magalhaes said.

Some animals without backbones live longer. An ocean quahog, a clam, lived 507 years and two different types of sponges are said to survive for 15,000 and 1500 years.